The Spider's Academy
by Major Mario
Summary: Returning to the dojo that taught her most, if not all that she knew about Taekwondo, Juri finds that her instructor has passed away and has left the establishment to her. Reluctant, the S.I.N. Spider mulls over the idea for some time until she stumbles across a few people who could benefit from her insight and teachings.
1. The Return

It had been quite some time since Juri had returned to the family home in South Korea after her stint in S.I.N., and she was not planning to stay long. Too many things had happened over the years for her to be welcomed back without a fuss. A life of cruelty and violence had made her known to the world, and while the major organizations of Shadaloo and S.I.N. had fallen by her hand, no-one saw the once pride and joy of the Han family as a returning hero. They saw her as a witch passing through their hamlet, terrified that destruction would follow her footsteps. Juri both reveled in and despised the looks of fear and scorn in the faces of her countrymen, knowing that the blood on her hands was both a trophy and a curse she could not wash away.

Juri wanted to return home only to grab a few things before taking her life elsewhere. She didn't belong in her family home anymore, nor did she belong in the same city that her father tried to keep safe. It would be better for everyone that she left as soon as possible, but the Korean woman couldn't help but linger. She ignored all painful relics of her past as she made her rounds, collecting clothes and anything useful for the future. When she stumbled upon her old Taekwondo uniform, however, she hesitated to do anything else.

She wasn't one to dwell on the past, but when Juri looked upon that old uniform she just had to call back a fond memory. She remembered the unease and doubt she overcame when her feet touched the fighting mats. She remembered how exciting it was to be locked in combat with another, and how her blood spiked with intoxicating adrenaline when she was on the verge of winning. But most of all, she remembered the looks of pride and congratulations on her parents' faces, especially her instructor who never stopped believing in her.

Scratching her chin, the Korean skirmisher wondered about the dojo she had spent so much time at as a child. If her memory served right, her old instructor was still teaching Taekwondo there. As much as Juri wanted to pack her things and set out to start a new life somewhere away from prying eyes, she had a strong desire to pop in and pay her respects to the person who taught her how to fight. She owed the old man that much. And so, after making sure she had everything packed and ready for when she left South Korea, she decided to step out and head towards the old dojo.

The dojo was, as it had been for years, quaint and welcoming to all types, its entrance open to receive students and onlookers alike. The humble building was overshadowed by the commercial structures on either side in the heart of the city, yet the dojo managed to stand out with its unique decorations and appearance. Even though the dojo itself was small in comparison to the buildings around it, it was imposing to any who looked upon it. Signs bid welcome to those seeking knowledge while pictures and scribbles left by graduates paid tribute to their experiences there. It was the traditional dojo for Taekwondo, but for Juri Han, it was a home away from home.

She gave a rare smile as she looked upon the dojo before sliding open its doors and stepping inside. The smell of incense trying to cover up the stench of sweat was absent that day, as were the usual fare of students. The red and blue fighting mats looked pristine to the Korean, and as she stepped onto them, she stretched and wiggled her toes in glee. Just about everything was as it used to be. Even the walls, decorated with many signs and figures helping students with their form and styles, were unchanged. Juri glanced about for another soul, yet upon finding no-one but herself, she furrowed her brow.

As far as she could recall, there were usually a few dedicated students in the dojo at all times of the day. They would be meditating on their form, practicing kicks, and searching for their fellow peers in the hopes of sparing. At this time of the day, there should have been at least somebody kicking the standing bag or making a racket with all their grunting. Juri ventured into the locker rooms to search for students, but all she found were rows of empty lockers. It was as if the dojo was obsolete and nobody cared to frequent it anymore.

"Hello?" Juri called out as she returned to the dojo floor. "Anyone home?"

Silence was her only answer. Unless everyone had thought that Juri would come back to her childhood dojo and ran for their lives before she arrived, there was no good reason she could come up with for everyone's disappearance. She scoffed and started to make her way towards one of the standing bags when she heard a door open behind her. Turning around, she saw an elderly woman exiting the dojo's office before stopping in her tracks. Looking up, she stared at Juri for a moment before squinting.

"Who is that?" she asked. Using an old cane, the woman took a few steps forward before widening her eyes. "Could it be? Is that... Is that you, little Han? Little Juri Han?"

"Not so little anymore," Juri answered with a bemused shrug. "But yeah. It's me. Who are you?"

"You remember me, yes?"

It was then that Juri looked a little closer. The kindly posture, the blunt expressions, and the welcoming aura was all too familiar. This woman wasn't her instructor, but she was very well connected with him. As the elderly woman smiled, Juri found herself smiling back.

"Mrs. Tong?" The older woman nodded. "You have no idea how nice it is to see a friendly face around here."

"It is good to see you as well, my dear," Tong replied. "It's been... ten or eleven years since I last saw you. You've changed since then, and in more ways than one."

Juri nodded at that. Ten years ago she had been forced through an agonizing encounter with Shadaloo resulting in the loss of her left eye and her parents. In the trials that were laid ahead of her from that fateful day, she had to make many hard decisions that would define her and her life for years to come. She desired vengeance, and she would stop at nothing to see Shadaloo's mastermind dead at her feet. A lot of people had gotten hurt because of her, and some were even killed. In the end, Juri had accomplished her goal and exacted her revenge, but she had lost ten years of her life that she would never get back.

She wasn't that little girl who bloodied all the noses and gave her parents a run for their money anymore.

"I remember when you won your first professional tournament. Your parents were so proud of you that day."

"Yeah... Those were good times," Juri replied after some hesitation.

"Good memories indeed. We needn't focus on anything else in the past but those." Leave it to an old woman to give out sound wisdom. Tong steadied herself on her cane as her smile faded. "Why did you come back?"

After all the media on the destruction of Shadaloo and S.I.N., Juri figured that anyone who paid attention to the news knew both who she was and what she had done. She wouldn't put it past an old woman like Tong to be kept in the dark. If the woman harbored any resentment towards the returning Han prodigy, she did not show it. Perhaps she didn't care, or perhaps she was just putting up a front. Juri wouldn't think any less of Tong if it was the latter.

"I'm not here to stay, if that's what you're asking," Juri replied with a nonchalant shrug. "I just popped in to grab a few things at the house before going... somewhere, anywhere. I'll figure it out when I get on the road again."

"I meant why did you come back here to the dojo, Juri," Tong sighed.

"I wanted to see an old friend again. Is he around?"

The two women shared a length of silence together before Juri felt the weight of what she just said come down on her. Tong exhaled and solemnly shook her head.

"Your instructor... My husband... He passed away two years ago, Juri."

Juri felt her heart skip a beat at that revelation before she looked away from Tong out of embarrassment.

"How did he die?" she asked, her voice low.

"Cancer."

Slumping her shoulders, Juri turned back to Tong and shot her a look of sympathy. It had been some time since she felt for her fellow man with emotions other than anger and disgust. Despite her reckless aggression, her abrasive personality, and her dangerous background, she was still human, and she cared for those close to her. Knowing that the instructor who saw her through her training had died was disheartening enough, but Juri found even greater woe in knowing that she had been off on a bloody violent streak in S.I.N. and was ignorant of his death.

"He was a good man. A good friend to both you and your father," Tong continued.

"He put up with me," Juri retorted. "Not many people could do that. I owe him a lot."

"You owe him nothing. He would have been overjoyed to know you were still alive."

Juri smiled at that.

"Good to know. Well, since he's not here anymore, I think I should get going again." Juri turned to leave, although with some reluctance. "It's been good seeing-"

"Juri, wait," Tong exclaimed. She hobbled forward and looked up at Juri with pleading eyes. "Before you go, there's something you should see."

"What is it?"

Mrs. Tong only beckoned with her hand before turning around to head back to the office.

Curious, Juri followed the older woman into the office and took a look around. Two stiff and uncomfortable discount chairs were placed in front of a small desk with one side pressed against the wall. Behind the desk was the only comfortable chair in the dojo, although it was hardly used by the active instructor. Bits and pieces of equipment like straps, pads, and standing bags occupied a corner of the room while a few filing cabinets flanked either sides of the door. The walls were the same color as they were back in the main room, only this time they were more decorated with framed certificates and pictures of better days.

Memories upon memories greeted the Korean fighter as she looked at the pictures on the walls. She could see a family portrait of the Tongs behind the desk, its frame embroidered with silk and touches of blue. Juri hummed in thought as she passed the portrait by only to look upon plenty of class photos occupying the far wall. As Mrs. Tong began to rummage about in the desk, Juri traced her fingers across the frame of one class picture and looked for the girl with the violet eyes. Finding her standing out from all the rest with a proud smirk, Juri copied the expression.

"Atta girl," she praised.

"Here we are."

Juri looked over at Mrs. Tong and saw her place a sheet of crisp white paper down on the desk. The margins were decorated with intricate patterns and the writing was filled with the grandeur of the author.

"What is this?" Juri asked as she picked up the paper and began to read.

"Many years ago, my husband felt himself growing older. He expressed a desire to pass on something to the next generations, and while he seemed content with teaching the young how to fight, he made plans to leave behind things for those he cared about." Mrs. Tong hovered over Juri's shoulder and caught her surprised expression. "What you hold is his will. He left our children with much of his money and gave me whatever comfort I would need after his departure, but to your family, the ones who so unselfishly supported him and his dojo..."

"He left my father the dojo," Juri finished, her eyes downcast.

"He wished to leave it to the Han family, and I support him," Tong continued.

Juri dropped the paper to the desk and glared at the other woman out of the corner of her eye.

"There is no Han family anymore. There's just me."

Tong reached for the paper as she sighed. She narrowed her eyes at the stubborn child and pressed the paper into her hand.

"And as the only one left, he leaves the dojo to you. It's what he would have wanted."

The Korean assassin looked back at the paper in her hands before looking off into the distance. Her instructor had left her family the dojo, but since they were all dead, the deed to the building belonged to the person who desired it the least. Juri had no desire to own her own dojo, let alone deal with the day to day operations. She did not want to stay in Korea for very long, but now that she had new property, she found herself conflicted. As much as she wanted to leave, she felt that she had an obligation to her instructor to carry on his teachings, and even more, she felt that she had an obligation to herself.

This could be a new direction for me, Juri thought. It was something to do, and it would allow her to continue her career as a Taekwondo practitioner. Yet, Juri knew that the city was against her. They were already nervous at having their pride and joy return as a killer, and only time would tell before their nervousness turned to hostility. Every step would be watched by thousands of voluntary spies, and Juri would hardly feel comfortable in the place of her birth. The whole problem required more than a few minutes of thought, so Juri turned to Tong to let her know that she would think about it, and that she promised nothing.

Leaving the instructor's will on his desk, his most valuable student walked out with a new burden on her mind.


	2. The Wolves of South Korea

Juri almost envied the people who had everything figured out. They knew what their careers were going to be, they knew who they wanted to fall in love with, and they had grand ideas that they knew how to accomplish. If a curve ball was sent their way, they knew just how to bat it away and score a home run. If they were set back a couple years, they worked hard to get back up onto their feet again. Such people were rare. So rare, in fact, that Juri figured she would more likely see Godzilla than someone who had everything under wraps.

They probably never had to deal with the fallout caused by two dead criminal syndicates, a bunch of angry special agents out for blood, fines, citations, legal bull, a couple bleeding-hearts activists, and returning home to the place where, at fifteen years of age, your entire world was crushed by a homicidal dictator. Juri had managed to get through all of that, yet she bore the scars of it all. She only had a vague idea as to how she was going to live her life after S.I.N., and it wasn't pretty. No matter where she went, people would know who she was and what she had done. And now that her late instructor had left her with his dojo, it presented an opportunity to stay with the people who were the first to know what she had become.

A killer who operated a dojo wasn't that rare. There were plenty of martial artists who worked in the military, and many of them had first-hand experience with fighting. Some even killed, but they never enjoyed it. Unlike them, Juri enjoyed taking lives. Killing her enemies felt good, and she wasn't going to deny it. If you were good at something, why not enjoy it, she thought.

But now Juri was back in civilized society, and they didn't take too kindly to killers who overstepped their bounds. If Shadaloo hadn't come and mucked everything up, Juri figured she could have been fine living near home doing something tame. A desk job where she had to look at a computer for hours on end would have been boring, but at least she wouldn't have been crushing heads against the concrete and dodging bullets. Eventually one of those bullets would have hit her, and while Juri enjoyed the thrill of combat and everything that came with it, she was glad to be out of danger for some time.

Walking the streets of her city, Juri toyed with the idea of running her own dojo. It seemed to be the pipedream of just about every great martial artist. They were past their fighting career, yet they wanted to teach others how to fight and to carry on their unique art. Everyone wanted to leave behind something when they left the world; it was simply human nature. Juri had no desire to teach others how to fight, nor did she want others doing what she had done. If she had it her way, she would smack around a few kids until they got the bright idea that whatever path she walked down wasn't for them.

Who in their right mind would allow Juri Han, a convicted killer, to run her own dojo and teach others? Already people were stopping and staring at the woman as if she was a tiger let loose upon the streets. Juri could run an organization on fear and anger, but this was a different story. She would be teaching fellow countrymen, novices, and kids. Nobody would allow her to get a degree or certificate that allowed her to run a dojo, and nobody would dare to leave their kids near her. Chuckling at her own pessimistic thoughts, Juri turned a blind eye to the stares boring into her back.

"Fighting's the only thing I'm really good at," she mumbled. "But me teaching? No, couldn't cut it."

Juri's problem, unbeknownst to her, was not that people wouldn't let her run a dojo. Plenty of criminals and killers were able to get back into society's good graces with enough time and effort. Juri had plenty of time, and she could put a tremendous amount of effort into anything that she put her mind into. What she didn't have was a driving force, something to motivate her. Revenge was a fantastic driver, but now that Juri had extracted it, her pool of inspiration was empty.

Perhaps it was this feeling of emptiness, of not knowing how to handle a dojo that directed the woman's steps down an unfamiliar street. Between dodging the gazes of people she didn't want to fight and trying to rack her brain for reasons to stay in the city, Juri caught a glimpse of a few signs telling about another dojo in the city. When she was a child, the only dojo around in the city that she knew of belonged to Mr. Tong. The demand for self-defense courses weren't as high then, and while most South Koreans jumped on the opportunity to learn their national fighting style, fighting just wasn't at the top of their to-do lists. After the Shadaloo attack, the demand must have risen up enough for another dojo to be constructed.

"But why me?" Juri mumbled to herself as she dipped her hands into her pockets. "Jin Tong was a smart man. Smarter than average, anyway. He should have left the dojo to someone who could run it. Now that I think about it, why hasn't anyone else tried to run the dojo? Did they just say 'screw it' and go make one of their own?"

Juri shook her head and decided to put that line of questioning aside for the moment. She could check in with Mrs. Tong later and get all the information she wanted, but for now she wanted to follow up on her curiosity. Stepping out onto the main street of the city, Juri continued to follow the signs towards the new dojo before she finally laid her eyes on it.

The first thing that stood out about the dojo was its size. The building was on par with the small commercial buildings that surrounded it, standing out like a wolf amongst sheep. Unlike Mr. Tong's dojo, this one wasn't quaint or welcoming. The no-nonsense signs and application fees plastered over the windows in a neat fashion made it clear that the dojo was all about the business. Juri furrowed her brow when she noticed the application was double the fee of Mr. Tong's, yet the class hours were the same. Unless there were some top players teaching the students in there, Juri could find no reason for the increase in fees if there wasn't a guarantee that the skills learned in the dojo would be top-notch, even better than what the late Mr. Tong could have offered.

And Juri was quite biased when it came to Mr. Tong's teachings. She learned just about everything about Taekwondo from him, and the rest she had to figure out on her own. Her own violent rendition of the style was built upon his work, just like any other aspiring student. And just like any other aspiring student, save a certain arrogant Thai fighter, Juri respected her late teacher.

Stuffing her pride into her pockets, Juri entered the dojo.

Unlike the previous dojo, there were plenty of students practicing on the fighting mats. Every student had a partner, and they were facing off against each other in bouts of friendly sparring. Juri looked on as students attacked and blocked with quick, military-like precision. It was as if every kick was choreographed and every block was planned. It was impressive, but Juri couldn't help but find a few flaws in the students' forms. They relied too much on textbook kicks, dodges, and blocks and kept their bodies rigid in order to snap forward with a suitable action.

A good fighter kept their body in motion and their movements were fluid and deadly. By keeping a relaxed yet attentive stance, a fighter could react to attacks much quicker than one who locked their stance. Juri figured the students were doing well enough, even if they left more to be desired. As long as they were able to defend themselves and put their opponent down for the count, all was well. Yet even Juri knew that that was just part of the basics of fighting.

Her presence had attracted attention, and soon she found the eyes of the students upon her. Juri paid them no heed and instead focused on the few trainers in their ranks. Some looked like military while others seemed little more than common men with a talent for fighting. They didn't look to be thugs, but that would all change if they opened their mouths and made a snarky comment. Juri had the slightest feeling that she didn't belong here, but still she stood there front and center for all to see. One trainer walked up to her after scrutinizing her for a moment.

"Can I help you, Miss...?"

"Han," Juri replied. She could see the fear flash through the trainer's eyes as he realized who she was. "And no. I'm just sightseeing."

"M-Miss Han! Uh, well, okay then," the trainer stammered.

"Actually, there is something you can help me with. Who runs this place?"

The trainer fidgeted and clasped his hands together.

"I can go get him if you'd like."

"You do that," Juri replied.

As the trainer ran off into a nearby office, Juri noticed the looks the students were giving her. They were all kids, but all of them looked the same. Well-built, stocky, muscles, and an arrogant stature. There were no gangly or skinny kids in there, not even girls. Most of them had hit puberty and thought they were something, but the way they were standing away from Juri like she was going to lash out at them brought a smile to her face. They were like schoolyard wolves in a pack, growling at a distance with their tails tucked between their legs.

Before too long, the alpha wolf came out from his den and approached Juri. He was big for a Korean man, and Juri figured he was ex-military given the way he carried himself. Despite his tall stature, the man wore a friendly smile and dressed like a dojo owner ought to dress. In his gi, he made it known to his students that he not only maintained the place but offered help when asked. Juri watched through narrowed eyes as the man opened his arms wide in welcome.

"I heard you were back in town," he said. "Good to see you again, Juri."

Juri folded her arms and gave an inquisitive tilt of her head.

"Aha, let me guess, you don't remember me, do you?"

"Nope," Juri replied. "Should I remember you?"

"It's me! Kyung Song? Ring any bells?" The man sighed and rubbed his head. "Come on, don't leave me hanging!"

"There are a lot of Songs here in Korea," Juri deadpanned. "Wus, Lis, and don't get me started on Kims. How do you know me? Did I kick your dog when I was a kid or something?"

Kyung chuckled at that before shaking his head.

"Nah, not like that. You and I were in the same Taekwondo class when we were kids. Got our black belts together."

"Oh really?" Juri mumbled as she uncrossed her arms. "Mr. Tong's class of 1999?"

"That's right! Man, we've both come a long way since then. I joined the military for awhile before I decided to open up my own dojo. I want to get Taekwondo back on the map again, especially after what happened to your-"

"Did you know that Mr. Tong's dead?" Juri interjected with a cold look.

"Jin Tong?" Kyung asked. "Yeah, he died two years ago. I heard it was cancer, but I don't know what type it was. You've been gone a long time, Juri. Did you just get back today?"

"Yesterday. I went to see the old man today only to learn that he kicked the bucket." The woman shrugged and decided to leave out the part about the will. Frankly, she didn't like Kyung, and she wasn't going to give too much information away. "Now his dojo is coming down with him."

"Damn shame," Kyung replied. "He was a good man, and it hurts to see the dojo we learned at go out of business. I hope it finds a good owner."

Juri gave an innocent-looking smile.

"Yeah, I hope so too." She glanced to the students nearby before looking back to Kyung. "You seem to be doing well for yourself. You've got a good class here."

"Yup, just got these kids a week ago," Kyung said with pride. "They show some real promise."

"Mhmm. They all look like they can fight. Where are the girls?"

Kyung hesitated for a moment.

"Well, I'm hoping to get a few girls in here. I'm still looking through some applications, Juri."

"You do that," Juri mumbled. She picked up on Kyung's hesitation and frowned. "Well, it was nice meeting you again."

"Oh, yeah, you too! If you're still around, maybe I can show you around the city. A lot of stuff has-"

But Juri would hear no more of Kyung. She turned on her heel and left without another word. It wasn't 'nice' to meet a person she had no interest in remembering, and it wasn't charming to sit and listen to the man lie to her face. There wasn't much in the way of proof, but Juri was certain that Kyung wasn't all that he seemed to be. If he held half as much respect towards Jin Tong as Juri did, he would at least try to salvage the old man's business instead of going out of his way to create one of his own. Plus, his hesitance when confronted with the lack of female students rubbed Juri the wrong way.

Juri wondered what Kyung's angle was in starting up his own dojo. He said that he wanted to put Taekwondo back on the map again, but in South Korea just about everyone knew what Taekwondo was. Perhaps he thought his training was going to be hot stuff, that his students would go on to become the best fighters the world had ever seen. He had a right to shoot for the stars like anyone else, even if Juri thought it was an inane goal. She glanced back at the dojo and felt a pang of jealousy well up in her heart.

Kyung's desire, as odd as it was, was what drove him to establish his own dojo. Juri wished she had her own driving force right then and there. It had to be stronger than her concerns over her being in the city of her birth, and it had to be greater than her self-doubt. She could teach others how to fight, yes, but her methods would be extreme. A fight could mean so many things: a simple sparring match, a competitive scuffle, or an all-out brawl where two men entered and one man left. If this generation of children got into fights, they would have to know more than kicks and proper form, Juri realized.

She made her way from Kyung's dojo with the intent of returning to Tong's own when she passed by an alley off of one of the side streets. Sounds of a scuffle carried down the passageway and reached Juri's ears, stopping her in her tracks. Ever since she was a child she knew to steer clear of alleyways, yet when she became an adult and longed for more opportunities to get into brawls, she found herself frequenting the shadowy hotspots. She didn't want to get into a fight herself when she was back in her home city, but she wasn't about to ignore whatever was happening in the alley. When she heard what sounded to be a kid fighting a losing battle, Juri turned and made her way down the alley.

Two well-built boys in their mid-teens were having a grand old time taunting and fighting two others, a young boy and a teenaged girl. The boy wasn't even trying to fight back. He cowered against a dumpster and kept his hands up to shield his face while the girl protected him by keeping the thugs' attention on her. She had a few scrapes and bruises on her arms and legs, yet she kept on fighting. Juri noticed the tears in her eyes and came to the conclusion that she was facing off against a couple of bullies, and she was scared out of her mind.

Juri contemplated stepping in to break up the fight, but she brushed the thought aside. It wasn't her fight, and she knew that if it was her against two stronger opponents, she wouldn't appreciate someone stepping in. She stayed in the shadows and observed the fight as the two thuggish boys managed to corner the girl. In an act of desperation, the girl twisted on the ball of her foot and sent a wild kick to the stomach of one of the boys. While lacking the proper form, force, and execution, it winded the thug and sent him to his knees.

The thugs reorganized after that strike and knocked the girl down. They gave her a few kicks to keep her down before moving onto the cowering boy. As they ransacked him for his money, Juri noticed that the girl, while knocked down, was still conscious and had enough strength to prop herself up. Get up, Juri thought. If you're still conscious, you can still fight. When the girl gave into her fear and pain and stayed where she was, Juri shook her head.

"You just had to make it difficult, didn't you?" said one of the thugs as he pocketed the cowering boy's money.

"Come on, let's get out of here," said the other, wincing as he turned away. It seemed that the kick to his stomach took a lot out of him. "Damn that bi-"

As the two thugs turned to make their leave, they were met with the imposing form of Juri Han standing in their way. The woman glared down at them with a cruel smirk as she clenched and unclenched her fists. Fear surfaced in the thugs' eyes; they knew just who the woman was from the terrible stories told about her. One of them fumbled for something to say, but Juri beat them to the punch. Without a word, the Korean woman stepped aside and gestured for the two thugs to continue on. Her eyes glowed with devilish energy, and she wasn't about to repeat the gesture.

Taking the opportunity, the two thugs ran past Juri and darted out of the alley like bats out of hell. A kindhearted person who protected the weak wouldn't have hesitated to knock the two thugs to the ground, but Juri wasn't the type. If the girl wasn't going to get back up and stop the thugs, then why should I, Juri thought. She looked over at the girl and saw a defiant scowl on her face. Someone was a little angry that the thugs got away, it seemed.

"Why didn't you stop them?" she coughed.

"I don't know," Juri replied. "Why didn't you?"

The girl scoffed and winced. While she had a few scrapes and bruises to complement her new bloody lip, she looked to be just fine. Nothing a few band-aids and rest couldn't fix.

"It was two against one!" the girl whined.

"That's no excuse to stay down."

"Is it... Is it over?"

Juri looked down at the cowering boy and sighed.

"Get up, kid."

As the boy got back to his feet, Juri examined the two more closely. The boy was a gangly little thing with skinny arms and legs, and his attire was that of someone whose family had money. Nice clothes combined with no knowledge of self-defence made for a tantalizing mugging target. As for the girl, she had dirty short hair and practical clothes that made her fit in well in the city. Her skin was fair and her face was plain, showing that she either forgot to put on some makeup or she just didn't care. On top of that, there existed a few embers of spirit in her eyes that reminded Juri of herself when she was a child.

Before she could be drawn back into a memory, Juri caught the girl trying to get back to her feet. She approached her and pushed her back down to the ground where she cried out in protest.

"H-hey! What's the b-"

"Oh, so now you decide to get back up?" Juri growled.

The girl tried to get back up again only for Juri to shoot her down with a glare. Frightened by the look, she stayed where she was.

"You don't get it, do you? You can be like this kid over here," Juri gestured to the sniveling boy, "and never try to fight back, but as soon as you stand up and lash out to defend yourself and those you care for, you can never fall back down. You owe it to yourself and the people around you to keep fighting, even if that means losing something every now and then."

Juri crossed her arms over her chest and offered a small smirk.

"I will say this though... That was a pretty good kick back there."

"You... You think so?"

"Yeah. It looked like you were putting up a good fight against those thugs until you fell." Juri offered her hand to the girl. "Could be better, though."

The girl took Juri's hand and saw herself back to her feet. She dusted off her pants and groaned in pain before turning to the boy from before. Seeing as he was battered but alright, she smiled and reached out to him. The boy didn't hesitate in offering her his shoulder for support. Juri figured the two must be friends or at the very least two people who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and banded together. Even if the boy wasn't a fighter, he still wanted to help out the person who stood up for him. That alone made Juri give some respect his way.

"Where'd you learn how to fight, anyway?" Juri asked.

"Videogames," the girl replied with an embarrassed blush. Juri made a face at that. "B-but I was taught a few moves at Tong's dojo before he-"

"Tong's dojo?" Juri repeated. "Do you mean the place owned by Jin Tong, the old man who died two years ago?"

"Yeah, that one."

"So you knew old man Tong, huh?" Juri scratched her chin in thought. "But after he died, didn't you try to apply to the new dojo run by Kyung Song?"

A expression of disgust spread across the girl's face as she looked away. Seeing as she wasn't going to answer, the boy decided to speak for her instead.

"Hyun's family didn't have the money for what Mr. Song offered," said the boy. "Mr. Tong was nice, though. He taught her a few things after classes for a week before he passed away. Besides, Hyun says that Mr. Song is a filthy d-"

"Thank you, Seok," Hyun grumbled as she cut the boy off. "But yes, Mr. Song is a dirty girl-hating jerkwad. I'm not some weak little girl; I can fight!"

Juri smiled at the girl named Hyun, for she agreed with her opinion. Why was it that kids seemed to know who to trust and who to write off as jerks better than most adults? She wasn't a misandrist, but she despised men who thought women couldn't fight. There were enough elitists out there in the world as it was, and adding another misogynistic man to the mix would have been repetitive. Everyone deserved a chance to learn, even if they were a gangly rich kid with a good heart or a battered girl from a poor family.

"Let's hope you can," Juri replied, "because videogames can't teach you everything. You need to learn how to hold your own in a fight. You need to learn how to survive."

"Well I don't want to learn from Scumbag Song," Hyun retorted.

"If only Mr. Tong was still here," Seok offered. "Even I'd enroll just to help you train, Hyun."

The two children looked down at their feet, leaving Juri alone with her thoughts. Despite her earlier thoughts, someone needed to teach people how to survive in the world. Shadaloo and S.I.N. proved that the world was still a terrible, dangerous place that threatened to swallow up innocent people and destroy all they held dear. Juri knew this firsthand, but instead of being swallowed up, she had turned herself into a monster in order to fight back without her conscience interfering. Becoming a monster to survive in a cruel world was Juri's choice, but she wasn't about to let others follow in her footsteps.

There was still hope in the world, she realized, and one didn't have to become a monster to survive in it. Turning away, Juri chuckled. She had found something to drive her, something to convince her to stay in her city and humor Tong's will. She wouldn't teach others how to fight or break them down into monsters. That was up to them. What she would do, however, is teach others how to survive. The best way of doing that was to take on Tong's dojo for her own.

Juri knew that a tough road laid ahead of her if she planned on going through with it all, but therein laid the appeal of doing something difficult: the challenge. She wasn't known for turning down a challenge.

"Hey..." Hyun looked up at Juri as the woman walked away. "Who are you anyway?"

"Just a spider looking for her web," Juri answered. She gave the two kids a wink as her left eye glowed. "Let's leave it at that... for now."


End file.
